Given the massive amount of stuff we have, mostly clothing and art-materials in Teresa’s case, and everything under the sun in mine, putting down floorboards in the loft, to make it viable for storage was imperative.
The old insulation, and the state of the ‘floor’ of this upstairs ceiling area, were incredible. It seemed that the builders of these dwellings, or some other tradesmen at some time since, had this area as a dumping ground for construction waste. And the whole mess was then covered first by a thick layer of soot, and over that by the old and very dirty insulation material.
I would ascend the stepladder looking like Michael Jackson after he started bleaching his skin, and come down looking like he did before. And the countless buckets full of rubble, slate, and goodness knows what that I removed… it a wonder the ceiling stood the weight!
I wound up spending what, for me, is/was a lot of money, on the foam insulation blocks and tongue-and-groove chipboard flooring. The former I decided upon after watching numerous YouTube vids, with an eye to achieving insulation in a much smaller vertically compressed space. I’ve never felt entirely happy that I used the right stuff, or as to its efficacy.
The latter just seemed like standard materials for the job, making it a relatively easy if hard and tiring job. It was late summer when I did this, and I would come down regularly, for a cuppa, a wash, and a brief rest, mucky as hell, breathing heavily through my respiratory mask, my glasses misted up, sweating profusely. Ah me, what fun it was!
But it has given us a fair bit of extra storage coach, which is in continual heavy use. So… result!